‘Huge Win for Democracy’: GOP Blocks Federal Election Takeover

An attempted federal takeover of elections was thwarted Tuesday, as Senate Republicans voted to block further debate on the legislation. 

With Vice President Kamala Harris presiding and prepared to cast a potential tie-breaking vote, the Senate divided 50-50 on a straight party-line vote. It would have taken 60 votes to proceed to debate and a vote. 

If enacted into law, the bill would ban most state voter ID laws, expand ballot harvesting, prevent the updating of voter registration lists, establish taxpayer-financed campaigns, and require states to allow same-day voter registration, among many other things.

Framing the matter as one of voting rights, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., was the first to speak on the Senate floor immediately after the vote. 

“Once again, the Senate Republican minority has launched a partisan blockade of a pressing issue here in the United States Senate, an issue no less fundamental than the right to vote,” Schumer said. “This vote, I’m ashamed to say, is further evidence that voter suppression has become part of the official platform of the Republican Party.”